Amid ongoing protests in Hong Kong, 80 teachers on Friday were arrested and four others have resigned or were suspended, according to city’s Education Minister.
Addressing to the media, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung-hung said that the latest fallout of the ongoing civil unrest, has seen students make up for nearly 40 per cent of the 6,000 people arrested, the South China Morning Post reported.
There were 123 complaints of protests-related misconduct against teachers between mid-June and late November, Education Bureau said.
Apart from the disciplinary action taken by the Bureau, Yeung said that some schools had also taken other action over the complaints like a demotion, postponement of salary increase, or transferring the teachers to another post.
According to the police, 6,105 people had been arrested over the anti-government protests, sparked by the now-withdrawn extradition bill, since the first mass demonstration was staged on June 9.
Of all those arrested, 2,430 people, or 39.8 per cent, were students.
Last week, police said that they foiled a second bomb plot in under a week after officers arrested three men allegedly testing home-made devices and chemicals in a secluded area.
Earlier in the month, Hong Kong’s protests are largely leaderless and organised online. They were initially sparked by a now-abandoned attempt to allow extraditions to the mainland but have since morphed into a popular revolt against Beijing’s rule.
Radicals had caused extensive damage to 85 of 94 MTR stations, so far.
In November, China had accused UK human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet of “inappropriate” interference in the country’s affairs, after she called for investigations into alleged excessive use of force by police in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s protests started nearly six months ago in June against proposals to allow extradition to mainland China, a move many feared would undermine the city’s judicial independence and endanger dissidents.
In 2018, the Hong Kong government had disqualified the candidacy of another pro-democracy activist, Agnes Chow, for the Legislative Council by-election in March of the same year due to her stance on advocating self-determination for the former British colony.
The controversial China extradition bill was withdrawn in early September but the movement has morphed into a wider campaign for greater democracy and against alleged police brutality.
(With inputs from agency)